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Ceres' shape is controlled mainly by gravity and spin, with only a 3% departure from hydrostatic equilibrium. Its best-fit shape is a triaxial ellipsoid with dimensions a = 483.1 km, b = 481.0, km and c = 445.9 km, with c being the north-south axis and a and b the semimajor and semiminor equatorial axes.
Ceres is saturated with impact craters.Many have a central pit or bright spot. In the first batch of 17 names approved by the IAU, craters north of 20° north latitude had names beginning with A–G (with Asari being the furthest north), those between 20° north and south latitude beginning with H–R, and those further south beginning with S–Z (with Zadeni being the furthest south).
The geology of the dwarf planet, Ceres, was largely unknown until Dawn spacecraft explored it in early 2015. However, certain surface features such as "Piazzi", named after the dwarf planets' discoverer, had been resolved.[a] Ceres's oblateness is consistent with a differentiated body, a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle.
Ceres is the only asteroid that appears to have a plastic shape under its own gravity and hence the only one that is a dwarf planet. [74] It has a much higher absolute magnitude than the other asteroids, of around 3.32, [75] and may possess a surface layer of ice. [76] Like the planets, Ceres is differentiated: it has a crust, a mantle and a ...
The active geology of Ceres is driven by ice and brines. Water leached from rock is estimated to possess a salinity of around 5%. Altogether, Ceres is approximately 50% water by volume (compared to 0.1% for Earth) and 73% rock by mass. [14] Ceres's largest craters are several kilometres deep, inconsistent with an ice-rich shallow subsurface.
Yalode and the regions surrounding it appear to be heavily tectonized. The floor of Yalode basin features parallel fractures that are larger and more developed than those found in other large impact basins on Ceres. The fractures in Yalode appear to have formed in at least two distinct generations and are concentrated along its basin rim.
Kerwan (/ ˈ k ɜːr w ə n /) is the largest confirmed impact basin and one of the largest geological features on the dwarf planet Ceres. It was discovered on February 19, 2015 from Dawn images as it approached Ceres. The crater is distinctly shallow for its size, and lacks a central peak.
Liberalia Mons is a mountain on the surface of the dwarf-planet Ceres. [2] Liberalia Mons is located in the north-western hemisphere of Ceres. It is to the north-west of Ahuna Mons, the east of Samhain Catenae, and west of Rongo. [3] Liberalia Mons is the largest mountain on Ceres in terms of base area. It has a diameter of roughly 90 ...